Philippa "Pippa" Wetzell (born 26 January 1977) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

television personality and journalist with

TVNZ 1 TVNZ 1 () is the first national television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It is the oldest television broadcaster in New Zealand, starting out from 1960 as independent channels in the ...

Early life

Wetzell attended

Takapuna Grammar School Takapuna Grammar School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the suburb of Belmont on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1927, the school mainly serves the eponymous suburb of Takapuna and the entire Dev ...

on Auckland's North Shore, where she was Head Girl in 1994. She went on to study at the

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology ( AUT; ) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT is New Zealand's third largest university i ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Communications degree.

Career

She was hired by

Television New Zealand Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, TVNZ+, streaming service, and 1N ...

in 1998 for the overnight assignments desk. She has had several roles at TV ONE's

breakfast television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

programme ''

Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

'', starting as a junior meet-and-greet assistant before reporting news for the show. From 2001 she was a reporter for '' ONE News'', later returning to ''Breakfast'' as back-up host for Kay Gregory. She has also presented the consumer affairs show ''

Fair Go ''Fair Go'' is a New Zealand consumer affairs television programme hosted by Pippa Wetzell. First aired in 1977, it was New Zealand's second longest-running local programme (after '' Country Calendar''). It was also one of its highest-rated p ...

''. Following Gregory's departure from ''Breakfast'' in 2007, she became co-host with Paul Henry. Wetzell left the show at the end of 2010.

Personal life

Wetzell is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Samoan heritage. She is married to lawyer Torrin Crowther, a competition law partner at

Bell Gully Bell Gully is a major New Zealand law firm. Founded in 1840 it is one of New Zealand's largest law firms, and along with Chapman Tripp and Russell McVeagh it is considered to be one of the "big three". Bell Gully is a full-service law firm. ...

. The couple have three children. Pippa's younger brother,

Yanni Wetzell Yannick Clemens Thomas Wetzell (born 8 July 1996) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for Akita Northern Happinets of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the St. Mary's Rattlers, the Vanderbilt Commodores, and the ...

, is a professional basketball player.

References

External links

Pippa Wetzell
at TVNZ {{DEFAULTSORT:Wetzell, Pippa 1977 births People educated at Takapuna Grammar School Auckland University of Technology alumni Living people New Zealand television presenters New Zealand women television presenters New Zealand television journalists New Zealand women journalists New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand people of German descent Samoan people of German descent